The band was still in the ascendant though. With the Sex Pistols splitting, the Clash obfuscating over their second album and a host of bands changing from punk to New Wave or Powerpop to get airplay and publicity enabled a band like Sham 69 who solidly proclaimed themselves PUNK and for the people to and with such an engaging and likeable singer to get publicity and strike a chord with kids up and down the country. This was punk rock for a lot of people and Sham would soon be swelled by the likes of the UK Subs, Ruts and Angelic Upstarts in the charts as Punk caught a second wind.

Jimmy Pursey I feel that we're the only band trying to do something and everybody else is shitting on the kids around us. When I last saw the Clash, Joe Strummer said to me: 'Y'now, we're not really a punk band anymore, we're trying to get away from that type of thing.' That's what gives 'em their bread and butter! It give me my bread and butter an' I'm not ever gonna deny I'm in a punk band. We're in a punk band that's it. If the bands gonna die it's gonna die as a punk band, not as a fuckin' pop group." Sounds 29.4.08

Their next single 'Angels With Dirty Faces' hit the charts and they appeared on Top Of The Pops helping propel the song up the charts. Live problems continued as the band were adopted by a hard core of NF/BM supporters who would regularly capture the stage (like rival football supporters) and harangue, bully and beat up members of the audience not in their gang.

Meanwhile the arrest on the Vortex roof hit the band as Pursey was denied entrance to the USA to do gigs. In July 'If The Kids Was United' was released which again charted and meant more TV appearances. Pursey was also in the frame for Quadrophenia and the band supplying music though both mysteriously got dropped they got thrown off the film because people 'couldn't dance to them' according to the official line! In August their appearance saw more trouble at the Reading Festival with the crowd storming the stage and a distraught Pursey.

In October 1978 another charting single Hurry Up Harry was released. before the end of that month their second album 'That's Life' hit the shops peaking at #27.

It all should have been rosy but in Jan 79 a gig at Hendon was killed after 30 minutes due to fighting with again a distraught and tearful Pursey. The event was being filmed for Arena programme on the BBC. Prior to the gig starting tracks from the film Clockwork orange and 'Land Of Hope & Glory) was played. Not the wisest choice. On the 31st of Jan at Friars Aylesbury Pursey announced the bands last gig.

Jimmy's not standing still though...he produces Angelic Upstarts 'Teenage Warning' LP and is going to produce the Cockney Rejects LP. Both bands influenced and in a similar ilk to Sham 69. 

From here on in the end of Sham 69 becomes very very messy. Record wise all was well. Another single Question & Answers is released and again charts at #17.

But by June 1979 the band were in disarray with live gigs stalled rumours abounded of a Sham Pistols supergroup link up of Pursey, Treganna, Cook and Jones. Indeed Pursey and Treganna had thought Shams days were numbered for a while. On top of this with a new album in the can Doidie the drummer had departed and Ricky Goldstein ex of the Automatics was brought in temporarily to replace him.

In the NME of 21.7.79 Pursey, who was clear the Sex Pistols would happen with him and Dave joining the 'two best rock musicians in the country,' was asked what he could do with the Pistols he couldn't do with Sham?

Jimmy Pursey International credibility for punk -  That's my ultimate ambition. I want the new songs to be a warning, and I want them to be the best songs to come out of the '70s. 

Pursey also talked about having 10 songs down pat, 7 originals and 3 covers and that they would be ready to play live in September that year.

The main problem was contracts. Sham owed two more albums to Polydor if they decide to retain their options meaning the group could take 6 months to become operative. This is not even taking into account the mess the Ex Pistols contracts were in with Virgin. It all became so confusing that conflicting statements started coming out.

Jimmy Pursey How do you think the lads feel when they see all this 'Pistols 69' crap in the papers? Sham 69 are still together, right? Steve and Paul have asked me to join the Sex Pistols ands tour and if Sham finishes it finishes, but we're still going.

In the end it all came to nothing.

Pursey seemed to be never out of the music weeklies though didn't seem to affect the band though they didn't necessarily agree with everything he said.

Dave Parsons  Jimmy was a born front man, so it was always obvious to us that he would take most of the limelight - on the odd occasion it was frustrating that we couldn't just get on and play and there was the odd occasion when I didn't necessarily agree with him - but all in all we were quite tight.

Pursey and the Clash RAR gig

And in the end as the hits happened Pursey changed and moved from man of the people sharing a stage with the crowd to, for want of a better word, a star.

Jimmy Pursey I'm not going to pretend to be Joe Bloggs off the street any more. The reason that punk was destroyed was that people wouldn't admit to what they were. Look if you go on stage every night and say, 'I don't want to be star, I don't want to be star', then you're going to become star...I've accepted the position they've put me in...I went absolutely mad in the head trying to stay Joe Public. Joe Public don't come to see Joe Public. Joe Public come to see someone they're not - someone they'd like to be. NME 21.7.79

Other frustrations surfaced while playing

Dave Parsons ...the skins and everybody are up on stage bouncing about and rally enjoying themselves. But then I'm not. So where do you draw the line. I can't get to my mike, I can't sing, I can't move. People are standing in front of my speakers so I can't hear what I'm playing ... the crowd are enjoying themselves. But surly I should enjoy myself as well? Sounds 3.6.78

The fame game

Dave Parsons  I don't think we were seduced by the fame game (though at the end it was possible Jimmy was heading that way) , to be honest we turned down more TV spots than we took up. Our management certainly had ideas that they could turn JP into some sort of a Suggs, Polydor to be fair to them were pretty good, but then our contact gave us a lot more freedom over our destiny than most bands had signed for.

It did start to get hard, we had loads of people from all over the place - managers / record company / fans / press all trying to tell us what we should be sounding like, in the end we just did what came naturally, we were never in the business of formula writing.

On June 29th they play another farewell show in Glasgow and in July issued 'Hersham Boys' their biggest charting single which reached #6. On the 28th they play The Rainbow which again ended in a fiasco. The gig lasted 20 minutes through fighting, stage invasions and skinheads out in force. And that was it!

Dave Parsons  At the very end it was getting silly, it was mainly down to right wing elements, which were organised to cause trouble at our gigs and gain maximum publicity for themselves but they weren't true Sham fans.

And afterwards....

Dave Parsons  A sort of relief really. I put the Wanderers together with ex Dead boy singer Stiv Bators and Kermit, we did an album, a US tour etc, so I had that to get my teeth into - ended up for months in an isolation ward with Hepatitis (now that was a bastard !)

 

Jimmy got into Modern dance and was on the fringes of the Batcave Goth scene

 

Kermit would later team up again with Stiv Bators in the fantastic Lords Of The New Church.

Documentary Part 1 London Weekend TV	Documentary Part 2